GUIDED OPEN REHEARSAL ELGAR’S CONCERTO

Teaching and Learning Guide (Levels 7–12)

mso.com.au/education EXPLORE MSO MORNINGS: ELGAR’S CONTENTS

1. REPERTOIRE 3 2. ARTIST INFORMATION 4 3. A WORD FROM OUR MUSICIANS 6 4. BEFORE THE REHEARSAL 7 5. SAMPLE LESSON PLANS LESSON PLAN 1: MSO MUSICIANS AND THEIR INSTRUMENTS 8 LESSON PLAN 2: INTRODUCING ELGAR 9 LESSON PLAN 3: DURING THE OPEN REHEARSAL 10 LESSON PLAN 4: ANALYSING ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO 11

6. APPENDIX 12 7. LEARN MORE 13

Front page: Johannes Moser, cello

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 2 SECTION 1 REPERTOIRE

The repertoire featured in this Guided Open Rehearsal is:

ELGAR Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85 Find it on Spotify Find it on YouTube Find this event online here.

Please note that the exact duration and excerpts of repertoire to be featured at this open rehearsal is subject to the conductor’s discretion. MSO will promptly advise regarding any necessary alterations.

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 3 SECTION 2 ARTIST INFORMATION

MELBOURNE SYMPHONY

Established in 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Sir Andrew Davis gave his inaugural concerts as Orchestra (MSO) is an arts leader and Australia’s the MSO’s Chief Conductor in 2013, having made oldest professional orchestra. Chief Conductor his debut with the Orchestra in 2009. The MSO Sir Andrew Davis has been at the helm of the also works with Associate Conductor Benjamin MSO since 2013. Engaging more than 4 million Northey and Assistant Conductor Tianyi Lu, as well people each year, the MSO reaches diverse as with such eminent recent guest conductors as audiences through live performances, recordings, Tan Dun, John Adams, Jakub Hrůša and Jukka- TV and radio broadcasts and live streaming. Its Pekka Saraste. It has also collaborated with non- international audiences include China, where MSO classical musicians including Elton John, Nick Cave, has performed in 2012, 2016 and most recently in and Flight Facilities. May 2018, Europe (2014) and Indonesia, where in The MSO reaches a wider audience through 2017 it performed at the UNESCO World Heritage regular radio broadcasts, recordings and CD Site, Prambanan Temple. releases, including the February 2018 release The MSO performs a variety of concerts ranging of a collaboration with Chinese violin virtuoso from symphonic performances at its home, Lu Siqing. Hamer Hall at Arts Centre Melbourne, to its annual free concerts at Melbourne’s largest outdoor venue, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. The MSO also delivers innovative and engaging programs and digital tools to audiences of all ages through its Education and Outreach initiatives.

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 4 SECTION 2 ARTIST INFORMATION

BERTRAND DE BILLY JOHANNES MOSER CONDUCTOR SOLOIST

Bertrand de Billy was born in where he Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of studied music. Starting as a member of an the finest among the astonishing gallery of orchestra, he soon took on . From young virtuoso cellists”, German-Canadian 1993–95 he was first Kapellmeister and Deputy cellist Johannes Moser has performed with the Music Director at the Anhaltisches Theatre in world’s leading including the Berliner Dessau, and held the same position at the Philharmoniker, , BBC Volksoper from 1996–98. In 1999–2004 he was Philharmonic at , London Symphony, Music Director at the Gran Teatre del in Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, and Tokyo NHK and in 2002–2010 he was Music Director Symphony Orchestras. of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna. Johannes recently won his third Bertrand de Billy is principal guest conductor of Award as ‘Instrumentalist of the Year 2017’ for his the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (2013– Russian Recital disk on the label PENTATONE, for 2016). Since 2014/2015 he is also principal guest whom he records exclusively. He will return to the conductor of the Dresdner Philharmonie. studio in late 2017 to record the Lutoslawski and Already at an early stage of his carrier Dutilleux concertos. engagements brought him to the state Renowned for his efforts to expand the reach of in Vienna, , Hamburg and Munich, to the the classical genre as well as his passionate focus Royal House Covent Garden in London, the on new music, Johannes has recently been heavily Grand Théâtre de la Monnaie, Opéra National de involved in commissioning works by Julia Wolfe, Paris and to the opera houses in Washington and Ellen Reid, Thomas Agerfeld Olesen, Johannes Los Angeles amongst others. Since 1997 he has Kalitzke, Jelena Firsowa and Andrew Norman. been a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera in He will take part in the European Premiere of New York and since 2002 at the Salzburg Festival. Gubaidulina’s Triple Concerto with the Zurich Bertrand de Billy conducts a wide repertoire from Tonhalle Orchestra in October 2017. Bach to many world premieres and premieres. With the , the Wiener Musikverein Throughout his career, Johannes has been and the Wiener Konzerthaus he is as closely committed to reaching out to all audiences, connected as with the Vienna and Munich State from kindergarten to college and beyond. He Opera as well as the Frankfurt Opera. combines most of his concert engagements with masterclasses, school visits and preconcert lectures.

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 5 SECTION 3 A WORD FROM OUR MUSICIANS

DAVID BERLIN PRINCIPAL CELLO, MSO

Q: What’s your favourite recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto? A: Jacqueline Du Pré (soloist), Sir (conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (listen on Spotify). The stars aligned on this one. Du Pré communicates on the highest level the extraordinary depth, passion and beauty of this iconic work, and Barbirolli and the LSO make wonderful collaborators.

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 6 SECTION 4 BEFORE THE REHEARSAL

WATCH Three performances of Elgar’s Cello Concerto (YouTube): • (conductor), Jacqueline Du Pré (soloist), London Symphony Orchestra READ • Jacek Kaspszyk (conductor), Johannes Moser Three biographical entries (2019 MSO soloist), Filharmonia Narodowat on Elgar the composer: • Stephan Deneve (conductor), • 15 Facts by Classic FM (soloist) and the Danmarks Radio Symphony • Elgar biography Orchestra by the of • Elgar biography by Faber Music

BEFORE THE REHEARSAL Elgar’s Cello Concerto

LISTEN Three podcasts featuring a discussion of Elgar’s Cello Concerto: • Soul Music: BBC Radio 4 • Thoroughly Good Podcast: Fearing Elgar’s Cello Concerto • Sticky Notes Three recordings of Elgar’s Cello Concerto (Spotify): • Sir John Barbirolli (conductor), Jacqueline du Pré (soloist), MSO PRINCIPAL London Symphony Orchestra CELLO, DAVID BERLIN’S • Richard Hickox (conductor), (soloist), FAVOURITE! London Symphony Orchestra • Sir (conductor), Truls Mørk (soloist), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 7 SECTION 5 LINKS TO CURRICULUM: SAMPLE LESSON PLANS VICTORIAN CURRICULUM 7–10: • Critical and Creative Thinking (capability) • Personal and Social (capability) LESSON PLAN 1: MSO MUSICIANS AND • Music (learning area) THEIR INSTRUMENTS o Respond and Interpret

SUGGESTED FOR: KEY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS Pre-concert engagement (VCE MUSIC SUBJECTS) • Music Performance (Units 1/2 and 3/4) LEARNING INTENTION: o Musicianship skills To get to know the musicians and instruments of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra o Strategies used to optimise performance outcomes MATERIALS: o Effective instrumental practice ❑ Interactive whiteboard (with visuals and sound) routines ❑ Student workbooks and access to pens, pencils etc., or o Improving personal performance ❑ Laptop/desktop computers ability • Music Style and Composition (Units 1/2 and 3/4) CONTENT o Use of appropriate music terminology 1. Remind students they’ll soon be attending a Guided Open Rehearsal and language featuring Elgar’s Cello Concerto (repertoire) performed by Johannes Moser (soloist), Bertrand de Billy (conductor) and the MSO o Using musical examples to support discussion 2. Introduce the learning intention o Forming and presenting a critical 3. Choose one of our general video resources to watch with students response – you may also like to split students into groups according to their instrument families, and have them watch the correlating video: • Music Investigation (Units 3/4) a. Tianyi’s Guide to the Orchestra o Music terminology and language b. Interview with Prudence Davis, o Technical and expressive mastery c. Interview with Shane Hooton, o Performance practices and conventions d. Interview with Brent Miller, Percussion e. Interview with Freya Franzen, Violin IB SYLLABUS COMPONENTS: • Music perception f. How do musicians prepare for a concert?* • Solo performing *It is suggested that option ‘f’ will be a useful resource for older students 4. Ask students to write a personal reflection on the video using prompts such as: a. What were your main observations? b. What in this video did you already know? EXTENSION IDEAS c. What did you learn? • Check out this lesson’s curriculum links in more depth: why not ask students d. If you met [MUSICIAN’S NAME] in person, what questions would to undertake an analysis task using our you ask them? suite of on-demand MSO concerts, e. What did I observe that I could apply to my own personal practice/ listed by repertoire – simply head warm-up routine? to this page and check out what’s available under the ‘extend’ heading 5. While students prepare their reflections, you may like to play some music from the concert – use any of the options in Section 4 of this guide, or use our Spotify playlist on the event page 6. Have a class discussion regarding students’ reflections focusing on linking students’ experiences with the experiences of MSO musicians as elicited in the video resources

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 8 SECTION 5 LINKS TO CURRICULUM: SAMPLE LESSON PLANS VICTORIAN CURRICULUM 7–10: • Critical and Creative Thinking (capability) • Personal and Social (capability) LESSON PLAN 2: INTRODUCING ELGAR • Music (learning area)

SUGGESTED FOR: o Respond and Interpret Pre-concert engagement (could be split across 2–3 lessons if you o Music Practices wish to increase the time students have to work on their posters) KEY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS LEARNING INTENTION: (VCE MUSIC SUBJECTS) An introduction to • Music Performance (Units 1/2 and 3/4) o Approaches to critical listening MATERIALS: and analysis of live and recorded ❑ Interactive whiteboard (with visuals and sound) performances ❑ A3 coloured paper, textas, markers etc. (poster creation tools) o The structure of the works and how ❑ Student workbooks and access to pens, pencils etc., or the composer/arranger/performer has used elements of music and ❑ Laptop/desktop computers compositional devices o Musicianship skills CONTENT • Music Style and Composition (Units 1/2 1. Select a recording of the concerto (see Section 1 of this resource) and 3/4) – you’ll use this as the focus resource for this lesson o Use of appropriate music terminology 2. Remind students they’ll soon be attending a Guided Open Rehearsal and language featuring Elgar’s Cello Concerto (repertoire) performed by Johannes o Using musical examples to support Moser (soloist), Bertrand de Billy (conductor) and the MSO discussion 3. Introduce the learning intention o Forming and presenting a critical 4. Create a KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learned) poster on the response whiteboard; ask students: • Music Investigation (Units 3/4) a. Who was Edward Elgar? o Music terminology and language b. What do we already know about him? o Technical and expressive mastery c. What do we want to know about him? o Performance practices and 5. Split students into small groups, and assign to each group a topic conventions students have listed under the “Want to Know’ section of the class KWL poster; each small group will research this topic, and create IB SYLLABUS COMPONENTS: a poster to show their learnings; you may like to suggest that for • Music perception their research students use the resources listen in Section 4 of this • Solo performing resource Note: Alternatively, for older students, you may like to ask them to prepare a PowerPoint, Google Slides or Prezi presentation instead of a poster 6. While students prepare their reflections, you may like to play the concerto in the background – use any of the options in Section 4 of this guide, or use our Spotify playlist on the event page 7. Hold a show-and-tell reflection session at the end of the lesson/unit, and add group learnings to the “Learned” section of your class KWL poster as you go

VARIATION • A possible variation on this lesson is to plan and deliver a unit of lessons with each focused on one of either the conductor, soloist, and composer for this program • Alternatively, one lesson could be delivered in which each small group focusses on either the conductor, soloist or composer for their research

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 9 SECTION 5 LINKS TO CURRICULUM: SAMPLE LESSON PLANS VICTORIAN CURRICULUM 7–10: • Critical and Creative Thinking (capability) • Music (learning area) LESSON PLAN 3: DURING THE OPEN REHEARSAL o Respond and Interpret

SUGGESTED FOR: o Music Practices Engagement during the rehearsal KEY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS (VCE MUSIC SUBJECTS) LEARNING INTENTION: • Music Performance (Units 1/2 and 3/4) To do some active listening during the guided open rehearsal o Approaches to critical listening MATERIALS: and analysis of live and recorded ❑ Handout (see Appendix) per student performances ❑ Pen/pencil per student o The structure of the works and how the composer/arranger/performer has used elements of music and compositional devices CONTENT o Musicianship skills PREPARATION • Music Style and Composition (Units 1/2 1. Print out one handout for each student (see Appendix) and make and 3/4) sure each student brings with them a pen/pencil o Use of appropriate music terminology 2. Engage in any of the above lesson plans to introduce students to the and language repertoire and musicians of the orchestra o Using musical examples to support 3. During a lesson, in the lead-up to the open rehearsal, discuss the discussion handout/activities with students and explain any reflection activities that will be taking place following the rehearsal experience o Forming and presenting a critical response ON THE DAY (BEFORE THE REHEARSAL) • Music Investigation (Units 3/4) 4. Give each student a handout and ensure they each have a pen/pencil o Music terminology and language ON THE DAY (DURING THE REHEARSAL) o Technical and expressive mastery 5. Students complete the handout activity o Performance practices and conventions POST-REHEARSAL REFLECTION 6. Engage in a general post-rehearsal reflection, or any one of our IB SYLLABUS COMPONENTS: post-rehearsal lesson plan suggestions below • Music perception • Solo performing 7. REMEMBER: You’ll notice that the last question on the handout asks students to consider any follow-up questions they might like to ask the artists featured in the rehearsal – send these through to [email protected] and we’ll get you some answers!

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 10 SECTION 5 LINKS TO CURRICULUM: SAMPLE LESSON PLANS VICTORIAN CURRICULUM 7–10: • Critical and Creative Thinking (capability) • Music (learning area) LESSON PLAN 4: ANALYSING ELGAR’S o Respond and Interpret CELLO CONCERTO o Music Practices

SUGGESTED FOR: KEY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS Pre- or post-concert engagement (VCE MUSIC SUBJECTS) • Music Performance (Units 1/2 and 3/4) LEARNING INTENTION: o Approaches to critical listening To understand the factors that contribute to an artistic interpretation and analysis of live and recorded performances MATERIALS: ❑ Interactive whiteboard (with visuals and sound) o The structure of the works and how the composer/arranger/performer ❑ Student workbooks and access to pens, pencils etc., or has used elements of music and ❑ Laptop/desktop computers compositional devices o Musicianship skills • Music Style and Composition (Units 1/2 CONTENT and 3/4) 1. Remind students they’ll soon be attending a Guided Open Rehearsal featuring Elgar’s Cello Concerto (repertoire) performed by Bertrand o Use of appropriate music terminology de Billy (conductor), Johannes Moser (soloist) and the MSO and language 2. Introduce the learning intention o Using musical examples to support discussion 3. Have a class discussion: o Forming and presenting a critical a. What challenges do you think a soloist/conductor/orchestra faces response when re-interpreting a well-known piece of repertoire? • Music Investigation (Units 3/4) b. For the above groups, what challenges are the same? Which challenges are different? o Music terminology and language c. Who gets to decide what a ‘good’ interpretation is? o Technical and expressive mastery d. What other factors might affect an interpretation, especially when o Performance practices and we are listening to a recording? (e.g. recording quality, microphone conventions placement, size and building materials of the room etc.) IB SYLLABUS COMPONENTS: 4. Select two different, contrasting recordings of the concerto from • Music perception Section 4 of this guide, and cue up the first movement of each (the first movement is approx. 8 min duration – you may also like to • Solo performing choose an excerpt from the first movement e.g. the first X no. mins); • Creating have students listen to the two recordings, answering the following questions as they go: a. What differences do you notice about the two recordings? Encourage students to use words describing tone colour, the elements of music etc. b. What similarities do you notice about the two recordings? c. Which recording do you like more? Why? d. Without judgement, what else do you notice that’s interesting about these recordings? Note: If undertaking this lesson as a post-open rehearsal reflection exercise, you may like to add in here an additional question asking students to focus on the differences between the recording and the performance, or perhaps substitute one of the recordings for the open rehearsal experience itself asking students to take note of what they hear during their visit 5. Hold a show-and-tell reflection session at the end of the lesson, and engage in some rich discussion while revisiting the class discussion questions from the opening of the lesson

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 11 SECTION 6 APPENDIX LESSON PLAN 3: HANDOUT (DURING REHEARSAL)

MSO GUIDED OPEN REHEARSAL: ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO

Conductor’s name: Concertmaster’s name:

Soloist’s name: Repertoire:

QUESTION THOUGHTS Before we start… You’re sitting in Hamer Hall. Look around – no one else is here except you and the orchestra! What do you notice about the hall?

Opening of the concerto… Listen to the opening of the concerto played by today’s soloist, Johannes Moser. What emotions or images does it conjure up for you?

The four movements… Movement I (Adagio – Moderato): List an image/emotion/person/place that each movement reminders you of. How do the tempo markings contribute? How does each movement contrast with the next? Movement II (Lento – Allegro molto):

Movement III (Adagio):

Movement IV (Allegro – Moderato, Allegro, ma non troppo):

The conductor’s role… Notice an interaction that the conductor has with the orchestra (e.g. when they stop to give a direction or re-rehearse a section). What do they ask for? How does the orchestra respond? Write down your observations. If something goes wrong… Did something go wrong during rehearsal? What happened? How was it managed?

Questions… Do you have any follow-up questions for the artists involved? Ask your teacher to email them through to [email protected] for answers.

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO MSO 2019 TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE – 12 SECTION 7 LEARN MORE

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